Arrest made following raid

November 18, 2012

EAST LIVERPOOL - One man was arrested on drug-related charges Friday morning at a downtown rental unit after law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies executed a search warrant.

Charged with trafficking in drugs-cocaine and obstructing official business was Glenn D. "Jake" Bates Jr., 27, occupant of the downstairs apartment at 711 Bradshaw Avenue. The house is owned by local landlord Alan Barnes.

With guns drawn, city police officers, the county drug task force, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as well as the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation (BCII) K-9 team converged on the two-story home just after 9 a.m., using a battering ram to bust down a back door.

Inside they found Bates and two men reportedly from Columbus, Douglas "Fresh" Austin and DeWayne Foster. Officers waited to execute the search warrant until after a woman and child who reside in the home had left earlier.

Austin and Foster were not charged.

Officers searched the house and exited with a host of evidence, including several flat-screen televisions they said had been used for surveillance. Agents removed from the outside of the house a surveillance camera hooked into the televisions.

Also taken into evidence were two digital scales, a pipe, bags of suspected powdered and crack cocaine and an undisclosed amount of cash. Canine officer Bo alerted on a couple areas inside the house, according to her handler, agent Kim Nusser.

Neighbors watched from their porches as police surrounded the house, with some verbally encouraging the officers in their efforts and at least one passerby pumping his fist as he drove past in apparent support of their drug-curtailment activities.

The search warrant was the result of an investigation into drug activity at the house and information from confidential informants, according to city police Chief John Lane, who said, "It went really well. Nobody got hurt."

Bob Balzano, agent in charge, said additional searches will be conducted as time allows, noting they cover 17 counties with similar drug issues.